(BLOOMFIELD) - The lack of a school-sponsored football program at Bloomfield Jr.-Sr. High School is cited as the primary reason the school's Junior Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps Lt. Commander, Frank Starr has resigned.

The Greene County Daily World reports, the Bloomfield Board of School Trustees approved his resignation Thursday night.

Starr will be leaving, effective July 31, to become the Assistant Commandant at Marion Military Institute in Marion, Ala.

That's the same position he held before taking the job at Bloomfield three years ago.

Starr loves football and had been the driving force and taken the leadership role in an effort to re-establish a football program at the Greene County school, which hasn't had gridiron team since 1942. Starr spoke to the school board in November 2012 and again in March where he was the spokesman for the Bloomfield Football Booster Club.

The fact that the school board didn't conduct a formal vote in March on whether to start a football program still upsets Starr. He says if the board had voted to have a football team he would have stayed in Greene County. Star said the Booster Club did what the school administration had requested and agreed to take on the financial burden to start the program but they still would not support having a football team.

Starr, who had been a coach in the Bloomfield Community Football League, cited the opportunity to move closer to his mother, who also lives in Alabama, as another reason for his resignation.

And finally, by going to work for the small state-operated military school, which is a junior college, his four children - three boys and a girl that are still at home - will have their junior college schooling all paid for by the state of Alabama, if they desire.

To top it off, his three sons will have a chance to play organized football for a school team.

In the last three years, under Starr's leadership, along with the guidance of former Naval Science Instructor Sgt. Major Robin White, the school's NJROTC program grew in numbers - from 37 cadets when he arrived to 86 in his first semester. Last year, 61 students participated - nearly 20 percent of the school's enrollment.
The NJROTC program has won several region and national accolades for orientating, rifle skills, and leadership.

The Bloomfield NJROTC finished 13th in the nation in an orientating skills competition in Washington D.C. this year where they were tested in the field on mapping and compass work.

The NJROTC SeaPerch team advanced to the state finals, and the Air Rifle squad finished in the top three in the eight-state region meet.

The Bloomfield NJROTC academic team placed in the top 10 in the nation this year in competition among 1,800 units.

In the last three years, the school has sent 17 student cadets to advanced Naval Leadership Training.